Biker in Waco shootout files civil rights lawsuit

WACO -- A 30-year old father and former firefighter who is also a member of a motorcycle club has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging he was illegally swept up in the police dragnet following this month's Twin Peaks biker shootout in Waco.

Matthew Clendennen of Hewitt is a member of the Scimitars Motorcycle Club and was at Twin Peaks on May 17. He was one of approximately 170 people arrested after the melee, which left nine dead, and was charged with engaging in organized crime.

Bail for each of those arrested was set at $1 million.

In his lawsuit, filed in federal court in Waco on Friday, Clendennen said he "did not encourage or solicit any criminal activity at Twin Peaks that day."

It states he was arrested "without probable cause and his motorcycle was illegally seized."

His lawsuit names the City of Waco and the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, as well as individual officers working the Twin Peaks case.

"It was the policy of the City of Waco, as decided and approved by their policymakers, to cause the arrest and detention of numerous individuals belonging to motorcycle clubs who were in or around the Twin Peaks restaurant at the time of the incident, regardless of whether or not there was individualized probable cause to arrest and detain a particular individual and to do so based on 'fill in the name' complaints without individualized facts," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit makes no specified claim of damages, but says Clendennen's constitutional rights were violated.